Box Score The Simon Fraser University Clan football team defeated the Dixie State Red Storm on the road 29-19, to win their first game of the season.

Using an opportunistic defence that forced three turnovers, the Clan were able to fight their way to the ten point victory.

"I thought defensively the guys were relentless," head coach Jacques Chapdelaine said after the win. "They played really hard and gave us a tremendous lift throughout the game. They made the stops and got their offence off the field."

Leading 10-6 at halftime, the Clan defence came out swarming to start the third quarter, as Jordan Herdman (Winnipeg, MB) forced the ball out of the Red Storm receivers hands, which was then scooped up by Justin Herdman (Winnipeg, MB) and returned 27-yards for the touchdown to give SFU a 17-6 lead.

Then later in the quarter and Dixie State pinned up against their goal line to start their drive, defensive linemen Quinn Horton (Winnipeg, MB) and Keenan North (Bellingham, WA) got to the quarterback in the end zone for the safety to increase the Clan's lead to thirteen.

SFU looked to go ahead with another touchdown, but receiver Lemar Durant (Coquitlam, BC) – who was returning after missing three games due to mono – was ruled to have fumbled the ball at the DSU one-yard line.

The Clan defence would hold though, forcing a punt, and returner Earl Anderson (Courtice, ON) returned it for a 60-yard touchdown increasing SFU's lead to 26-6.

Dixie State would bounce back with a touchdown of their own too close to gap to 26-13, and then forced a fumble looking to make the game a one score possession.

However, cornerback Bibake Uppal (Surrey, BC) came up with his first career interception which led to a season's best 43-yard field goal by Tiernan Docherty (Richmond, BC) to put SFU up 29-13 with six minute remaining in the game.

The Red Storm would not go away quietly into the night, as they went 55 yards in just three plays two minutes later putting the score at 29-19. Dixie State would attempt a two-point conversion, but it fell incomplete and then on the onside kick attempt, Bobby Pospischil (Coquitlam, BC) fell on the ball for SFU.

With under 3:26 left in the game, Dixie State would have one last opportunity to try and comeback, but the Clan defence came through with two sacks leading to a turnover on downs.

In his first career start, Tyler Nickel (Calgary, AB) went 15-for-21 with a touchdown and an interception for 108 yards, while Ryan Stanford (Phoenix, AZ) also saw action going six-for-thirteen for 61 yards.

"He did a really nice job," Chapdelaine said of Nickel. "He threw a nice touchdown down the middle. In his first game he did quite well and he'll continue to learn from that."

Running back Cole Tudor (Pickering, ON) finished with his first career 100 yard rushing game, as he finished with 113 hard earned yards on 29 carries.

After missing the past three weeks, Durant led the team with five receptions for 47 yards, while Docherty went two-for-two on field goals, both coming from over 40 yards.

On defence, the Clan recorded 12 tackles-for-a-loss, including four sacks as Dixie State ended the game with just 15 yards rushing. Mitchell Barnett (North Vancouver, BC) and Jordan Herdman led the team with 11 and 10 tackles respectively, while safety Matt Isherwood (Abbotsford, BC) had five tackles and an interception.

Following the win, the Clan's record improves to 1-4 (1-1) on the season and will be on the road in Pocatello, ID next weekend where they will face Division I opponent, Idaho State.

Kickoff is set for 1:35pm PST.